Board-level employee representation rights in Europe

ETUI Report 121

17 European Member States and Norway have enacted legal provisions allowing for employee representation, with voting rights, on the supervisory board and/or board of directors of companies headquartered on their national territory. Additional provisions regulating Board-level employee representation [BLER] are to be found in several pieces of European company law. Even so, BLER remains a hotly debated topic at both national and European levels.This report presents the ins-and-outs of BLER, describing the current situation, potential future developments, and the issues at stake. It aims to provide an overview of BLER rights as well as of the major trends to have emerged in recent years. In this way, information gleaned through the SEEurope network helps to answer a key question, namely, is BLER in Europe under pressure? (Available in English and German)